The old women say that, after his troubles, Maatakssi became the father of a great tribe of the People, that he had many sons and daughters. The Above Ones had favored him in this thing. They made Maatakssi’s family strong and their medicine powerful. This was back before the time of the stories, even, but the old women say they know this.
But first, before that came to pass, the Above Ones gave Maatakssi one boon and one punishment, as they had promised.
“Maatakssi,” they said, “you have done a terrible thing, killing your brother, as you did in your anger. Old Man is our friend, and killing his son was an evil act. For this you will be punished. But you have reverenced your brother, Siinatssi, in the proper way, and released his spirit to find the Other Lands. So, after you have been punished, we will grant you one blessing.”
“I am sorry, Above Ones,” Maatakssi said, sinking to his knees, rubbing dust in his hair. “My anger was upon me and, now, I am filled with shame.”
Two birds, the small ones the People called niimatsoo, upside-down walkers, cried from a tree just then.
The Above Ones – even those people – were great gamblers, and they could not resist the chance for a game, whenever the opportunity arose. The place where the Above Ones lived could be dull at times. The old women say that the outcome of one game or another between those people decided the shapes of many things on this Earth. They say that, many times, the world itself had taken a new face on the turning of a bet, those worlds that had passed before this one.
“Maatakssi,” they said, “do you fancy your luck? Can you see those two birds there on that branch? Let us bet on which bird flies first, you and us. Where is the harm in that? If you call it rightly, you will not be punished for your sin. If you do not want to bet, though, we understand, and will make the punishment you have earned easier for you to bear. For, as we have said, Old Man is a friend of ours and we do not want to trouble him overmuch with the suffering of his remaining son.”
Maatakssi smiled to himself, as he could see that one of the birds had a turned wing and could not fly. Why endure a punishment? For such mighty beings, the Above Ones were fools. And Maatakssi himself was one who would not turn down the chance to gamble although, at times, that habit had caused him grief and the loss of precious things.
“Very well, I choose the bird to the left,” he said, picking the one with the healthy wings. “That bird will fly first.”
Just then the crippled bird on the right straightened its wing and flew off, spiraling up into the sky.
It is a very stupid thing to bet with gods.
At the faraway place where he lived with his wives, Raven watched this pass from his perch atop the high pine and was troubled. For that old bird, of all creatures on this Earth, saw the world as it truly was.
He lifted his shining black wings and flew.